“I agree,” Noah said softly.
Phoebe noticed Loretta all but roll her eyes, but Daphne continued, “You’re Patrick’s daughter. I can see him in you.” She breathed in deeply, looking at the rose trellis and the small house where she used to live. “I have roses at my home in Hollywood Hills. It’s a cute little bungalow not that different from this place. Oh, I had such big dreams when I was here.”
“Looks as if some of them came true,” Loretta said, her directness breaking through the nostalgic mood.
“A lot of them did,” Daphne said.
Olivia touched Dylan’s arm. “Let’s take Loretta and Julius to the library and get settled. Noah, Phoebe and Daphne can meet us there.”
Hartley looked reluctant but made no comment as he followed Olivia, Dylan and Loretta out to Thistle Lane. Daphne smiled, watching them. “Julius is someone you want to have on your side,” she said quietly.
“You’re welcome to come inside and have a look around,” Phoebe said.
“Thank you but you have a show to put on.” Daphne brushed back a few tears. “I wasn’t sure I’d even get out of the car. I’m glad I did. I’d like to walk to the library, if you don’t mind.”
“That was my plan, too.”
“I thought it might be.” She looked out at the shaded yard, a breeze stirring in the trees. “I assumed someone had discovered my old sewing room years ago and given everything to Goodwill. It never occurred to me that it was still intact. I feel a little like Sleeping Beauty.”
“It’s a big attic,” Phoebe said with a smile.
“I was surprised when Julius told me about the dresses Olivia, her friend Maggie and Noah’s mysterious dance partner wore.” Daphne brushed back a few tears. “It’s funny how things work out sometimes, isn’t it? I see an article about Dylan McCaffrey and Knights Bridge, and you discover my secret sewing room. Meant to be, maybe.”
“Maybe so.”
Daphne fingered another rose, as if remembering herself at twenty-one. “I came to Knights Bridge because of my family’s roots in the Swift River Valley. I thought it would help me to be close to my great-great-grandfather’s energy, his can-do spirit. And it did, just not in all the ways I imagined. Well. Shall we go? Can you walk all right in that long skirt?”
“Not a problem. I even danced in it.”
Daphne gave her a knowing smile. “So I hear.”
With a sudden burst of energy, she headed down the front walk. Phoebe glanced at Noah. “Go,” he said. “I’ll be right behind you.”
She crossed the lawn and met up with Daphne Stewart. Noah stayed a few feet behind them as they started down Thistle Lane toward the library.
Daphne hooked Phoebe’s arm into hers. “My father was a troubled man and as a result I had a troubled childhood. I knew I had to make a clean break. I saved up and moved to Knights Bridge.”
“And you got a job at the library your great-great-grandfather founded,” Phoebe said.
“I always knew it wasn’t permanent. I loved it, and I loved the little house I rented, that you now own.” Daphne tightened her hold on Phoebe, as if she needed to steady herself. “I knew that to save myself, I had to totally reinvent who I was—even who I thought I was. I was invisible here, but that’s what I wanted.”
“Invisible, maybe, but not unappreciated.”
Daphne cut her a sideways look. “Thank you for that.”
“How did you end up creating your sewing room?” Phoebe asked.
“I volunteered to tidy up the attic.” Daphne’s grip eased, and she sounded more at ease, more the confident, successful woman she’d become. “I thought it’d be a good opportunity to think, perhaps to encounter a ghost or two. I cleaned out a storage room and decided to make it my own. I enjoyed sewing. I knew what I was doing with a needle and thread. My grandmother taught me the basics. Then I got books out of the library and learned more.”
“Did you know you wanted to be a designer?”
“I knew I didn’t want to be me,” Daphne said quietly. “Having a secret room allowed me to take risks I otherwise might not have. Not all risks involve jumping out of airplanes and climbing tall mountains. Some involve daring to strip away the limiting beliefs about yourself and seeing what’s left.”
Phoebe glanced back at Noah, knew he could hear them, but he just gave her a slight wink.
Daphne lowered her arm from Phoebe’s and inhaled the night air. “I never imagined at twenty that I’d fly back here in a private jet, that much I can tell you.” There was no hint of tears in her eyes now. “I used to walk to the library with fabric tucked under my coat. I spent every dime I had on fabric, thread, notions. I’d haunt thrift stores for old clothes that came in that I could tear apart and use in my sewing. I followed patterns at first. Then I found myself adapting them, adding this or that. I had such a good time.”